Cereal Eats: Lucky Charms Limited Edition

Well, St. Patrick's Day is over. Time to shake the Shamrock-shaped, beer-soaked and corn beef-scented glitter off your mandatory green clothing. I'm not much of St. Paddy's Day gal myself (maybe my last name gave it away?), but there is one Irish dude who will always have my heart—Lucky himself and his alluring Charms. And for a limited time only, you can get this snazzy green box with all clover charms.

While this is all well and fun, it's basically just an excuse for me to talk more about Lucky Charms.

Obviously you all must know by now that Lucky Charms were no less than forbidden in my home growing up. And I realize I've already shared a good bit about my passion for the Charms:

Whenever I mention Lucky Charms these days, people love asking, "Oh did you pick out all the marshmallows first or save them all for last like I did?" with big stupid happy smiles.

And I just stare at them, stone-faced. No, you fools, my childhood didn't involve marshmallows, so stop rubbing it in and go laugh with someone who can relate.
I might be the only person out there who actually LOVES the cereal part of Lucky Charms.

Is there more to talk about? Of course there is.

You see, recently, while inhaling the scent of a freshly opened box (uhhhh just go with it), I was hit with a sudden pang of nostalgia. Of vacations and roadtrips. Of birthdays and Christmas. That sweet marshmallow perfume that promised, "this day is special for some reason." It nearly brought tears to my eyes. The purity of the Charms was tainted once I reached college, of course, but the magic never totally died.

And in this recent moment of contemplation, I realized that Lucky Charms really is "the standard" for this kind of cereal, the Holy Grail, if you will. Yes, the colorful mallows are the real draw for most, but I adore those plain pieces: it's the tried and true flavor of classic Cheerios, only dressed up for a night on the town with a demure coating of "sugar crust". And when all the elements are swirled together in milk, the resulting spoonful so defines all that is good and right in this world that I cannot even put it into words.

Side note: though my mom is the one that kept me from Lucky all those years, she herself not-so-secretly loves the Charms.

I'm all for limited time offers, fun colors and flavors, bright boxes and fun cereal games. But Lucky had me at hello, all those years ago, and I will always, always, be after his Lucky Charms. ALWAYS.